1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to containers for disinfectant-impregnated members which are insertable in telephone mouthpieces, and more particularly to containers having improved means to interlock the lid member to the container body and thereby assure retention of the disinfectant-impregnated member in the telephone mouthpiece.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Due to the fact that public telephones are utilized by many different people, and due to the fact that saliva from some of these people can be retained upon the telephone mouthpieces, thereby creating an offensive smell and, in effect, contaminating the mouthpiece, it is known to place disinfectant-impregnated members into the mouthpieces in order to both disinfect the mouthpieces and provide an agreeable frangrance thereto. Such disinfectant-impregnated members have been supported within removable containers such as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,643,040 of Feb. 15, 1972.
However, over a period of time the disinfectant-impregnated members will lose their potency and will therefore require replacement. For this reason, the prior art containers have been designed such that a lid member is readily separated from a container housing so that the retained disinfectant-impregnated member can be easily replaced.
However, the prior art containers have been so constructed that with frequent use of the telephone, the lid members have been easily loosened and separated from the container bodies, such that the disinfectant-impregnated members have too easily been dislocated from their intended positionings within the mouthpieces.
According to the present invention, however, the lid member and the container body of the container are so constructed that they can be fixedly and permanently locked together, such that the disinfectant-impregnated member will be prevented from slipping off the supporting container body.
Also according to the present invention, the container itself is constructed so as to be sufficiently inexpensive as compared to the cost of the retained disinfectant-impregnated member that the entire container (with exhaused disinfectant-impregnated member) can be removed from the telephone mouthpiece and discarded without economic disadvantage.